October 20, 2011

UPDATE 1-Sonoco Q3 profit beats, cuts FY outlook


* Cuts FY 2012 EPS to $2.41-$2.45 vs prev $2.46-$2.54Oct 18 (Reuters) - Industrial and consumer packaging company Sonoco Products Co posted a quarterly profit that beat analysts’ estimates helped by productivity improvements and lower selling costs, but cut its outlook for the year.Sonoco now expects full-year adjusted earnings of $2.41-2.45 a share, down from its prior forecast of $2.46-$2.54 a share.Analysts on average were expecting full-year earnings of $2.44, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Third-quarter net income rose to $77.2 million, or 76 cents a share, from $59 million, or 57 cents a share a year ago. Excluding items, the company earned 66 cents a share.Revenue rose 7 percent to $1.12 billion.Analysts on average had expected earnings of 63 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $1.12 billion.Shares of the Hartsville, South Carolina-based company closed at $30.73 on Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

October 18, 2011   67 notes

EU court bars stem cell patents when embryos destroyed, Christians hail ruling


(A microscopic view shows a colony of human embryonic stem cells (light blue) growing on fibroblasts (dark blue) in this handout photo released to Reuters by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, March 9, 2009/Alan Trounson/California Institute for Regenerative Medicine)

October 13, 2011   20 notes

Netflix gets more shows from CBS, Warner Bros


By Yinka AdegokeOct 13 (Reuters) - Netflix Inc’s U.S customers will be able to watch shows like “Gossip Girl” and “The Vampire Diaries” online after it signed programming deals with CBS Corp and Warner Bros for shows from their joint venture, The CW television network.The programming deal, for shows from the current schedule through 2014-15 season, is the latest in a string of deals Netflix has been reaching to bulk up its streaming service and convert more subscribers from its more costly DVD mail delivery service.Programmers had initially appeared hostile to what appeared to be Netflix’s threat to the lucrative cable TV programming ecosystem but have recently been reaching new deals. Warner Bros. is owned by Time Warner Inc , whose chief executive Jeff Bewkes had been one of Netflix’s loudest critics until a few months ago.In the past few months Netflix has reached programming deals with Lions Gate Entertainment Corp and Sony Pictures Entertainment for award-winning shows “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad”, as well AMC Networks for “Walking Dead” and other shows.The new deals with Netflix appear to have tighter restrictions such as when they can first be shown, for example.In The CW pact, older-season episodes of some shows, including “One Tree Hill” and “Nikita”, will available Oct. 15 while others are set for January.But episodes of all scripted shows of The CW this season will only be available to Netflix subscribers in the fall of 2012. Other shows through 2014-15 will have about a year’s delay before running on Netflix.Netflix has inked the CW deal in the wake of a major fallout with its subscribers after a series of missteps by Chief Executive Reed Hastings in the last few months.Last week, in response to a subscriber uproar, Netflix was forced to drop a plan to split off its DVD business with a new Qwikster brand.Before that the company had already raised its prices by 60 percent for many customers who want to get both online streaming and DVDs, leading to hundreds of thousands of subscribers dropping the service.Netflix shares have dropped more than 60 percent since early July when it first announced the price hikes.Netflix shares rose 2.7 percent to $116.75 on Nasdaq at mid-afternoon.

October 11, 2011   31 notes

California’s September revenue misses target


“September’s revenues alone do not guarantee that triggers will be pulled. But as the largest revenue month before December, these numbers do not paint a hopeful picture,” Chiang said.Governor Jerry Brown and lawmakers crafted a budget in June that closed a $10 billion deficit with cuts, payment deferrals, some fees, and expectations of $4 billion to be generated by California’s slow recovery from its long and brutal slump.The plan also had provisions for spending cuts, including deep cuts to school spending, to be implemented after December if revenue falls short of expectations.Revenue from the start of the current fiscal year in July through September is trailing budget estimates by $705.5 million, Chiang said.Analysts said the trajectory of California’s revenue strongly suggests leaders will have to trim yet more spending to keep the books balanced.”It’s pretty clear the state is dealing with an entirely different type of budgetary reality than even a few months ago,” said Dan Schnur, director of the Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California.Chiang’s office in a report said September’s revenue highlighted an uneven economic recovery.”Personal income taxes posted solid gains in September, driven in large part by total personal income, which has finally exceeded its prerecession peaks according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. However, both sales and corporate taxes disappointed,” the report said.